Exploring the Motivations and Challenges of Librarians of Public Libraries in Using Social Media to Marketing Library Services

Subject Areas : Journal of Knowledge Studies

afshin hamdipour ¹ , Hashem Atapour ² , Nasrin Mosayebi ³

1 -
2 - Department of Knowledge and Information Science, University of Tabriz, Iran
3 - Department of Knowledge and Information Science, University of Tabriz, Iran

Received: 2024-12-06 Accepted : 2025-01-16 Published : 2025-04-17

Keywords: Motivations, Challenges, Public Libraries, Marketing, Social Media,

Abstract :

Objective: Social media (SM) plays a key role in the marketing of public libraries. The aim of this study is to identify the challenges and motivations of public libraries in the employing of SM for marketing purposes.

Methodology: The present study is an applied research that has been conducted using survey method. The statistical sample of the present study included 102 librarians of public libraries in East Azerbaijan who were selected using simple random sampling. The data collection tool was based on Choi and Joo's questionnaire (2018), that was used after validity and reliability check.

Results: The results showed that majority of the librarians participating in the study use from a variety of SM for library marketing purposes. Among these platforms, Instagram, Blog, and Telegram were respectively the most popular SM for the libraries marketing purposes. Also, other findings showed that “peers influences”, “demand and acceptance of clients”, and "Innovativeness of library organization" were the most important motivations and "concern about security and privacy issues", "difficulties in obtaining the best marketing methods" and "lack of analytical tools to evaluate marketing efforts" were the most important perceived challenges for librarians in the use of SM.

Conclusion: The findings of this study can be used as a guide when using SM for marketing purposes in public libraries. By evaluating the current state of using SM for marketing in public libraries, this study has addressed their most important programs, challenges and motivations.

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